Poll: How many reefers have successfully kept a butterfly?

[JMM744]

If you have access to mastic you can add some brine or mysis or whatever to it as you mix it up. Put that in your clam shell.

 

[atoll]

If so, what kinds of butterfly fish have you been successful with?

A copperband.
However, what do you call success as your idea of success and everybody else's idea of success may just be miles apart?

 

[KMench]

Currently have a yellow long nose butterfly. Have had it for about 2-3 years now. Happy, eats like a pig

 

[JMM744]

Short video of my current butterflies. Still waiting on my yellowhead, black Vagabond and sunset. The Bannerfish is donated to a much bigger tank once I can catch it. Currently looking at a 10 ft tank too.
Can never have too many butterflies!!


My pyramid hanging in the mp40’s turbulence. It does this often. No it’s not sick.

 

[RobMcC]

I've tried 4 butterflies over the years. Chelmon rotsratus, C. marginalis and C. muelleri and Hemitaurichthys polylepis.

All did very well. I had to catch and sell a Chelmon muelleri a day after getting it, as it decimated many, many colonies of acans and blastos in just a few hours!

I sold the marginalis to move home, I had it for several years though and it always ate well.

Currently have a rostratus (about 18 months) and polylepis (about 4 years old).

Here's the rostraus - eats everything and fights the other fish for food. He loves ocean nutrition pellets, mysis, clams, shrimp, fauna Marin LPS pellets, squid, krill. I bought him to clear a really bad aiptasia infestation after peppermint shrimp and berghia failed. He cleared the whole tank 2 days after I got him, so maybe that helped him settle. Only problem is he doesn’t let me feed my LPS very easily, as he likes their food too much! He has also eaten 5 acan colonies, but left many others alone (seems to like rainbow acans - predominantly red ones are left alone).

Here's the polylepis. apologies for the crappy pic. It isn't really that blue, but the phone camera ain't great. Again, eats everything and doesn't pick at corals. It's a very, very hardy fish (survived whitespot, some weird unidentifiable disease that killed many other fish and numerous multiday powercuts).

 

[Musovski]

Hi! We have a threadfin too but it won’t really eat... we have tried these methods:

(1) minced shrimp and shaped into a log, freeze and tied down with a rubber band to a small disc

(2) clam tied down with a rubber band to a small disc

(3) pellets

(4) frozen piece of fish/squid

The first time I gave frozen seafood, I cut thinly and just put it in the tank. The fish nipped at it but lost interest after a few nips. And then every time I put some food for it, it just circle around the food and doesn’t eat anything. We have had it for about 2 weeks now and it spends a lot of time hiding behind a coral rock. It’s now in quarantine tank but we don’t put any medications for it.

I would really like to know how to get it to eat. Advice please.

eventually it will get hungry and nip at something but remember that the natural food is worms and natural crustaceans.

Try LRS Reef Frenzy. its what worked for me

 

[reefer333_]

Question for ppl who has successfully kept CBB, do you keep the fish separately in a tank without much food competition (whether QT or separate tank) for a while to condition the fish before you put it into main display tank with lots of competition? Did u feed live food at the beginning to make the fish gain weight significantly? Thanks.

 

[Jvalle]

If so, what kinds of butterfly fish have you been successful with?

Hi I had a cooper band and I had to move him to another tanks as he would eat all my zoas make holes in some favias I have. He did some damage and it was hard to get him out. He is in another tank now and his been going strong for over 3 years now. I feed live brine and mysis. It’s a chance u always take if they are coral eaters thx

 

[Funky]

If so, what kinds of butterfly fish have you been successful with?

I quess it depends on what you consider a long time I’m going on 6 months I don’t want to jinx myself.i have just been doing regular water changes and putting a variety of food in with algae wafers it’s a long nose butterfly

 

[Shu_Ting]

eventually it will get hungry and nip at something but remember that the natural food is worms and natural crustaceans.

Try LRS Reef Frenzy. its what worked for me

How long should I leave it be to get really hungry?

I think we try different combinations nearly everyday and we got more and more frustrated having to fish out those uneaten good...

 

[RobMcC]

Question for ppl who has successfully kept CBB, do you keep the fish separately in a tank without much food competition (whether QT or separate tank) for a while to condition the fish before you put it into main display tank with lots of competition? Did u feed live food at the beginning to make the fish gain weight significantly? Thanks.

I didn’t. Straight in the tank to clear aips.

 

[Big E]

Muelleri Butterfly- 12+ years in reef tank

Group of 4 Chaetodon semilarvatus - 6 years -- fish only

 

[RMS18]

To early to say sucuessfully, but i have had my CBB for 2.5 months. He was shipped with Ick and was very skinny. He has gotten much thicker, eats all kinds of food including Nori. He is by far my favorite fish, the personality on him is incredible. I can put my face on the glass and he will swim right up to me, no fear. His feed response is so cool to watch, they can do this head twitch, first time you see it you may think the fish has flukes. The tank is in sight of the refrigerator, so when its about feeding time and he sees me go to the freezer out of the corner of my eye i'll see him start to twitch, once he sees the feeding cup he turns into a spaz haha love that fish.

1 year 6 months later the CCB is still with me, and packed on some weight.

 

[Musovski]

How long should I leave it be to get really hungry?

I think we try different combinations nearly everyday and we got more and more frustrated having to fish out those uneaten good...

Tops, 2 weeks if it doesn't drop dead by that time. Best thing to do is after a week i'd begin checking in on medication. im not much an expert when it comes to meds on fish.

But first, see if maybe adding garlic to the food helps(fish food garlic not supermarket). Or if a fresh clam from the supermarket. If that doesn't work last thing would be a bottle of artic pods. if nothing is in interest, could be that it has an infection and has to be treated or worst possible case all the money you spent on the fish was a way to just let money out ya pocket

 

[Paul B]

Question for ppl who has successfully kept CBB, do you keep the fish separately in a tank without much food competition (whether QT or separate tank) for a while to condition the fish before you put it into main display tank with lots of competition? Did u feed live food at the beginning to make the fish gain weight significantly? Thanks.

I keep my copperband in my regular reef tank with everything else. My last one lived about 10 years and I got another one about 2 months ago.
I feed all my fish live worms a few times a week. Copperbands are large eaters but due to their rather small mouths, they can't eat to much in one bite, but they try.

I find that paper thin pieces of clams are one of the best foods for them besides worms which is their main diet in the sea.

 

[reefer333_]

I keep my copperband in my regular reef tank with everything else. My last one lived about 10 years and I got another one about 2 months ago.
I feed all my fish live worms a few times a week. Copperbands are large eaters but due to their rather small mouths, they can't eat to much in one bite, but they try.

I find that paper thin pieces of clams are one of the best foods for them besides worms which is their main diet in the sea.

Thank you, Paul. Any tips or devices you invented for feeding clams/worms, so that other fish don't get to clams and worms before CBB? especially during when they are new to the tank? I am sure once they gain weight and get used to the tank, it will be less of an issue.

BTW: I want to thank you sincerely for sharing dragonet feeding device with us, I wasn't able to keep dragonets fat and healthy long term in 90g, until I started using that. I followed ur advice to the tee, breaking apart old RO unit to get the mesh to put it on top, that mesh is perfect size for baby brines

 

[MrsBugmaster]

I have had luck with this method, I take frozen food and use a cheese grater to make very tiny pieces.

 

[Paul B]

Thank you, Paul. Any tips or devices you invented for feeding clams/worms, so that other fish don't get to clams and worms before CBB? especially during when they are new to the tank?

I find that coperbands don't need any tricks or feeders to keep them healthy. They are quick and large eaters if they are healthy, but if they were quarantined or medicated, I am not sure how they will fare as I don't do that.
Here my copperband was eating clams. This fish was about 9 years old when I took this.
You can see she has no trouble getting enough food.

 

[reefer333_]

I find that coperbands don't need any tricks or feeders to keep them healthy. They are quick and large eaters if they are healthy, but if they were quarantined or medicated, I am not sure how they will fare as I don't do that.
Here my copperband was eating clams. This fish was about 9 years old when I took this.
You can see she has no trouble getting enough food.

Thanks, Paul. Is your current new CBB also eating aggressively like this too? I was not able to get any new comer I tried in the past to eat like that. Also how did u make those paper thin pieces of clams?

 

[Paul B]

Yes, my new one also eats almost like that, but she is still small.